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Oh hi – long time no post. Last week, I was a bit sick and down for the count, to say the least. This week, I’m on a healing bender. I have my blender working overtime with crazy green smoothies made with ginger, turmeric and every herb that I’ve read about that contains immune-building qualities. I’m trying to eat lighter and brighter as well because I really do believe that plants can heal.

Which brings me to this recipe from Blissful Basil, a cookbook that couldn’t have arrived at a better time. If you don’t follow Ashley’s blog of the same name, you must! She has the most gorgeous recipes that you can feel great about eating.

In her book, she shares her story about dealing with anxiety as well as other health issues, and how she came to learn that a plant-based diet was just the thing that made her health thrive. The book is filled with 100 creative veggie recipes like Sloppy Shiitakes (her veggie take on a sloppy Joe), Triple Noodle Power Pad Thai, Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars, to name a few. (I’ve bookmarked practically the whole book).

But today’s recipe is this simple, delightful, hearty, lemon-y salad that I just love. Despite its name, buckwheat is actually a gluten-free grain. I had never cooked with buckwheat groats and I have to tell you that I’m obsessed. They take only about 10 minutes to make and they’re similar in texture to farro or wheatberries. The hearty, chewy bite is just so wonderful in this salad. This recipe makes for either a great packable lunch or a delicious dinner, if you just add whatever protein you like served on the side.

How pretty is her book cover? Vegan pizza here I come:

I also have my eye on these Pulled Hearts of Palm Tamales with Chipotle Cream and Pinapple Pico de Gallo:

A Giveaway: Ashley is so kindly offering a copy of the book to give away – leave a comment to enter! A winner will be chosen at random on Friday. (U.S. and Canadian addresses only)

This recipe is from the Blissful Basilcookbook and is reprinted with permission from the publisher.

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Serves: serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Buckwheat Salad

1 cup raw buckwheat groats

2 cups water

1 medium Granny Smith apple, cut into matchsticks

2 cups baby arugula

⅓ to ½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup raw pepitas

1 ripe avocado, sliced

Simple Lemon Vinaigrette

3 to 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Add the buckwheat groats to a fine-mesh strainer and thoroughly rinse with cold water. Un a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed buckwheat and water. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Stain and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear.

Transfer the cooked buckwheat to a large nonreactive serving bowl along with the apple, greens, cranberries, and pepitas.

Make the dressing: In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper to taste.

To assemble: Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. If desired, add the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice to the salad to brighten the flavors, and liberally season with salt and pepper.

thank you so much for including “frozen cousins” in Canada. I am fairly new to your blog and cooking, but as a senior experienced cook, who was did not eat meat for two years and was married..lol I still really enjoy the challenge of good food, taste amazing and no meat. Love and Lemons what is not to Love.. Heather

Looks like a wonderful recipe and cookbook. Since I do not have buckwheat on hand and I am home ill, I will try substituting my favorite grain of Kamut. Thank you. I just love your cookbook and website. My daughter gave it to me last Mother’s Day, my best gift!

I LOVE buckwheat groats but have never tried to cook it like this. Will definitely try b/c all of your recipes are simply delicious and healthy. I would love to win this cookbook. It would be sheer blissl!

I didn’t know the blissful basil blog and I love it ! Always happy to discover new amazing vegan and vegetarian cook s:)
Would love to experiment with her book !
For this salad I have a near classic at home : love the buckwheat and the avocado and love pairing their flavors 🙂

This cookbook and recipe looks amazing! I have been on a vegan/plant-based cookbook tear recently, catching up with all the great bloggers that have cookbooks out and I didn’t know about this one yet – thank you!

I just bought buckwheat after reading about the benefits but had no plan for a recipe – what good fortune for me you shared this one ! I believe I choose a roasted buckwheat
From the bulk section of Whole Foods – will they work ?

I love buckwheat, but don’t cook with often – simply because I forget how delcious it is. (Thanks for your tip above re. washing away the typical mushiness.) And, this refreshing looking salad looks is an ideal nudge to cook up a batch soon! I’d love to win a copy of Ashley’s cookbook.

Your love & lemons cookbook never leaves my car because I keep it on hand for my daily trip to the market.Never had a let down yet when choosing a recipe,when my daughter’s come home from college for a visit its always a Love & Lemons recipe for our meal .And I am excited to check out some recipe’s from Blissful Basil.Just today I was advised after weeks of cardiologist visits that I have severe anxiety and need to take steps to relieve stress.So since cooking makes me feel good and I love feeding my family good food Im looking forward to cooking to make myself better too.Thanks for your great blog:)

good morning! Thank you for the recipe and your incredibly helpful blog. I’m a new mom with a 4 month old, and turning to a plant based diet in the postpartum period for a number of health reasons including PPD. I would love a copy of this book to help get me rolling 🙂 Thank you so much!

Agh just realizing lately how nice it is to have a physical cookbook in hand, rather than looking on the computer at recipes while I try to cook it! Also so lovely to support the amazing work people do in a concrete way. Hoping to win a copy of this book xx

This looks so amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I actually just discovered Ashley’s blog as well. I would love to be able to experiment with recipes from her book!! I have your book at home right now 🙂 Thanks!!!

I can see that you are putting a lot of efforts into your blog. Keep posting the good work.Some really helpful information in there.Get healthy hints for modifying recipes at blog.kitchology.com. We provide a wide variety of Special Diet tips, reviews and news to enable healthy meal planning.Nice to see your site. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing this recipe! I didn’t have all the ingredients handy to make this salad, unfortunately. However, because I had buckwheat in my pantry, I’ve made it following the instructions so I could eat with some leftover veggies. I’ve also made the dressing and it’s amazing! 🙂

I’ve cooked buckwheat before, and in both times, the buckwheat gets slimy in the salad. This time, I did rinse after cooking with cold water, but the result seem the same. Any tips or tricks? I did notice the water was all gone by the end of the 10mins, so maybe I’m overcooking the buckwheat?

Hmm, once I rinsed mine and tossed it with the dressing, the slimy-ness was all gone. You could try cooking it maybe 2 minutes less (taste to make sure they’re tender) – every stovetop is different. Let me know if you try it again if that does the trick?

Yes, I know it is probably way too late to win a copy of your book but just thought I had to tell you what a fantastic find it was to run into your blog. I have not tried any of your recipes yet (hey, I just found it today) but was so pleased to find recipes because this is the way I eat. I have never been a meat, potatoes and veggie kind of eater so now you know why I am so excited. The gang at the gym is going to hear all about you too as we exchange recipes almost daily. Thank you again for making my life a little easier and taste better too, I am sure.